Night on the Mountain
by Dairene
Summary: What if Canada's Blackwood Mountain was the only mountain in existence with the wendigo menace? What if wendigo spirits haunted mountains in various places around the globe? A group of friends camping on a mountain in Taiwan (Republic of China) make a nightmarish discovery...
1. Chapter 1: Tragedy

Warning: Violence, Horror Content 17+ XD

Episode I: Night on the Mountain

-Chapter I: Tragedy

Peace Lodge, Heilin Mountain, Xinyi Township, Nantou County, Taiwan, January 29, 2018…

Seven girls hiked up the trail to the visitor's lodge on Heilin Mountain, as the sunset lit up the sky.

"Whew, we're finally here," Yuwen Chen panted as she reached the cabin door and fumbled with the key. "That was some exercise."

"The mountain looks so deserted," Elena Zhang gazed around.

"The clerk at the station said we were the only campers on the mountain," Yu-Ting Qiu giggled. "After all, it was just opened to the public."

Wanzhen Xie took a last look outside as the girls filed inside. "The view is amazing."

"Yeah, looks like the apocalypse," Youru joked as she stepped back out to see the sunset Wanzhen was admiring. "Come on inside before you get eaten by a leopard (雲豹) or bear."

"We won't see them here," Lily Lee remarked almost wistfully from inside the lodge. "They're all but extinct now."

"All right," Wanzhen nodded grudgingly as she followed Youru inside. "It's almost dark anyway."

"You're right!" Youru came to a shocked realization. "We need power and the generator is a long walk from here! We need to get someone there to turn it on before the sun goes down! In case it's dangerous or something."

"I'll go," Elena Zhang volunteered. "But it's not dangerous- the clerk at the ranger station said we were the only camping team on the mountain. With the mountain newly-opened and all. And we already settled the question about wildlife..."

"I'll go with her," Yu-Ting piped up with a chuckle. "I'll protect little Elena here."

"Oh shut up," Elena punched Yu-Ting lightly in the shoulder, and the two skipped out the back door.

"Good," Emily Lio laughed. "Youru and I will go fire up the boiler downstairs then, like the ranger taught us. Wanzhen and Lily can go unpack and set up our sleeping area upstairs. And Yuwen can go cook."

"Why me gain?" Yuwen feigned annoyance.

"You make the best soup," Youru joked.

"We only have canned chicken soup and ramen. Even _I'm_ not that good, you jerks," Yuwen retorted, but she head to the small kitchen anyway.

Wanzhen skipped off upstairs, and Lily trudged after her, dragging their bags after them. With a slight huff, Youru went down to the basement, Emily on her tail.

Yuwen went into the kitchen and unpacked the miniature, portable stove from one of their bags, attached it to the kitchen's gas valves, and put a pot on it. With a can opener, she pried open one of the nondescript soup cans, and poured its contents into one of the pots. She turned on the stove, which ignited a nice blue flame, and adjusted it to a low simmer. Fishing out a dual canister of salt and pepper, she considered adding a little salt, but decided against it.

 _The soup is pre-salted already, and we don't need more hypertension_ , she chuckled to herself. If anyone complained, it was their fault for letting her cook.

She closed the lid of the pot and took out huge pack of ramen, and several cans of Asian sauerkraut, canned spicy vegetables, and spam. She'd cook the ramen after the soup.

Then she took out her phone. "Oh, damn it," she muttered at the lack of signal. She turned on her stored music and put on her earphones, idly enjoying a moment of calm.

"How far back is this generator?" Elena grumbled tiredly as she trudged along the path.

"Don't be such a grump and enjoy the view!" Yu-Ting piped up cheerfully beside her, trying to lighten the mood. "A lovely evening in the woods…"

"It's cold," Elena raised an eyebrow at her friend. She clambered down a ledge and started descending a set of stairs. "Do you think coming up to the mountain was a good idea? I mean, this mountain was closed all these years for a reason, and the government has never been straight up about it."

"Well, there was the old Japanese-era sanitorium on the mountain. In the 1940s, there was like, this crazy inmate breakout," Yu-Ting shrugged, as she followed Elena down the steps. "A bunch of crazies murdered all the staff and escaped. But don't worry- that was like, eighty years ago. Any insane lunatics hiding in the mountain would be long dead. Animals probably long picked their bones clean."

"I think there was an Army base up here too? Set up by the ROC in the 1950s after Taiwan's retrocession?"

"There was a munitions explosion or something- killed a heck lot of soldiers too. But don't worry- it's on the far side of the mountain and fenced off."

"True, but a lot of unfortunate events seem to occur on this mountain- almost like it's cursed. And so many people died, what if there's ghosts?"

"I'll protect you then," Yu-Ting joked, as they came to a fork in the road.

"Great… which way?" Elena groaned.

"I hear a whirring sound that way," Yu-Ting pointed right. "Maybe that's the generator?"

"I don't like the sound of that," Elena frowned. "Wait… look!" She walked over to the left and pointed to a sign knocked-over on the ground. It looked fairly-new and said:

Lodge Generator

Mount Heilin Recreational Area

Nantou County Government

Bureau of Tourism

"Looks like it," Yu-Ting agreed. "What knocked it over?"

"Wind?" Elena proposed. "But the metal pole's all bent. Maybe an animal?"

"Who knows?" Yu-Ting shrugged, taking the lead and striding ahead. "Let's just get this done with and get back to the lodge. I want to take a nice, hot bath… Whoa! Look!"

Elena fast-walked up to Yu-Ting.

Ahead of them, about one hundred meters ahead, three majestic deer stood in the way.

"They're beautiful!" Elena exclaimed in awe.

"Agreed," Yu-Ting pulled out her cell phone to snap a picture of the animals. "But let's not get too close- they were probably the ones who knocked over the sign. Elena!"

Elena had run ahead, scaring the deer, which turned-tail and fled into the woods. "Sorry, but we need to keep going. Had to clear the path."

"AUGHHH!" A shout that sounded like a man's cry rang through the air.

"What the hell?" Elena froze in her tracks. "W- What was that?"

"Don't ask, just run!" Yu-Ting grabbed Elena's hand and took off, yanking her friend after her. "Let's get to the generator building!"

The two girls ran across a bridge and down a path, not stopping until they reached the generator.

"What the hell was that? W- Was it a man?" Elena panted, exhausted.

"Probably- Probably, just an animal," Yu-Ting bent over, wheezing, but waved a hand dismissively. "I was just afraid we'd run into an angry beast."

"So we ran for that?!" Elena groaned, pushing Yu-Ting, who chuckled, despite her heaving. "Fine, fine, let's just get this over with."

Yu-Ting walked over to the generator. "Looks like we have to pull this starter rope."

She pulled it and the huge diesel motor roared to life. "Now where's the big green button…" Yu-Ting looked around. "Ah, here it is!" She forcefully jabbed the button clear clearly-marked "Press to Activate Generator". The generator flickered to life, dials and meters fluctuating to display data, and the lights came on throughout the generator house.

"Whew, looks like we're- " Elena began, when an abrupt clanking and spluttering noise began in the generator. Seconds later, a mechanical cover rattled loose and clanked to the floor, followed by several gear-like cogwheels and a plastic belt. The lights flickered off and the generator around to a halt. "Shit!"

"Is it broken?" Yu-Ting asked, a tad bit anxious.

"No, I don't think so," Elena replied as she examined the fallen parts. "Stupid thing just threw a belt! But I think I can fix it..." She opened a nearby cabinet of spare parts. "Ah, a new belt! But goddamnit… we need a screwdriver! I can't believe we don't have a toolbox! Where is one when you need it?"

"Ah, drat, I think there's one at the lodge," Yu-Ting slapped a hand to her forehead. "The Clerk mentioned it. I can go get it."

"Yeah, that'll be helpful," Elena nodded. "I'm not walking that long path four times… I'll just wait for you here and figure everything out."

When the soup started to boil, Yuwen turned off the fire and prepared to divide the soup into separate bowls first.

It was then that, through the window, she spotted a strange man step out of the forest not two hundred meters from the lodge.

He was wearing a thick dark overcoat- which she couldn't see the color of, because he lurked in the shadow of the trees- and his face was covered with a mask and a goggles. He carried a huge circular backpack which glinted oddly at certain angles, and in his right hand… he held a machete. Yuwen wasn't sure if it was the light, but it looked like there were dark, reddish stains on it. The man stared at the cabin for a few moments and turned, making a distant metal clanking sound.

"Hey, guys, there's someone outside!" Yuwen narrowed her eyes and tried to peer through the blinds better. "I thought the clerk at the foot of the mountain said we were the only climbing team. Emily? Youru?"

"Maybe he or some other worker came up to check on us?" Emily yelled up from the basement.

"Maybe…" Yuwen sounded doubtful. "But- but… he… didn't look like it! He wasn't wearing a uniform, just a heavy overcoat, a backpack, and a… well, what looked like a mask! And I swear he was holding a machete!"

"If he was a park worker, why doesn't he just knock at the door and ask?" Youru added her skepticism with common sense, and the basement soon filled with the buzz of Emily and Youru's discourse.

"BOO!"

"AUGH!" Yuwen shrieked in fear and turned around… to see Yu-Ting holding a gas mask.

"Rad, right? I found this by the generator." Yu-Ting burst in guffaws of laughter.

"Yu-Ting! You scared the shit out of me! When- Why'd you come back here?"

"Elena sent me back for a screwdriver," Yu-Ting waved the tool. "Some parts of the generator were loose." She changed the subject. "You should've seen your face, scaredy-cat!"

"I'm already freaked out here!" Yuwen objected angrily in spite of herself. "I just saw a mysterious guy out there with a bloody knife!"

"You're just seeing things," Yu-Ting scoffed. "The dark woods are- "

A loud, inhuman scream punctuating the air stopped Yu-Ting mid-sentence, followed by an explosion of flame in the forest some distance away.

"Whoa, that was weird," Yu-Ting froze, eyes wide.

"What the hell- " Yuwen turned around. Emily, Youru, could you get up here now?!"

Another scream echoed through the frosty air- this time, it was unmistakably Elena Zhang.

"Elena!" Yu-Ting cried, and ran, barging out the back door.

"No, wait- !" Yuwen yelled, too late.

A moment later, Emily and Youru came flying into the kitchen.

"What the hell happened?!" Emily demanded.

Before Yuwen could reply, the strange, inhuman scream sounded again, followed by another, further-off burst of fire.

"Whoa…" Youru stammered.

"Should- should we go out after t- them?" Emily stammered. "Y- Yu-Ting and Elena. T-they're out there alone!"

"N- no!" Yuwen objected. "I- It's too dangerous! The more people are out there, the more people are at risk! Someone get the phone! Call the police!"

"What's going on?" Lily inquired nervously, having come downstairs with Wanzhen. "Yuwen? I heard screams…"

"T- There's some weird shit going down!" Youru exclaimed. "We heard Elena screaming and there was this shrieking sound and we saw fire in the woods!"

"And there was this stranger with a heavy backpack and a machete!" Yuwen added.

"Holy crap, I'm calling the police!" Wanzhen was frantic. "Crap, no cell service. Where's the phone?"

"There's a landline upstairs!" Lily jerked a finger. "Battery-powered!"

"Great!" Wanzhen dashed back up the stairs.

"I saw the fire too!" Lily spoke up. "From the upstairs window! We need to go find Elena and Yu-Ting! They're still out there!"

"No, we can't split up!" Youru contradicted, backing up Yuwen's earlier assertion. "We need to barricade this cottage in case that stranger attacks us!"

"Y- yeah," Yuwen began to babble. "E- Elena and Yu-Ting are s-smart- and resourceful- t-they'll hide. Right? They'll come back ok. They'll be ok. W- We'll just hold up here until they return. N- No use getting lost too."

Wanzhen ran back, as Youru and Lily were getting to work bolting the rear door and barricading it with a couch.

"Good news! I got through to the police! A group of rangers will be coming up the mountain as soon as the weather cleared and they've sent out a rescue helicopter from Nantou City!"

"Weather?" Emily asked, confused.

"Well, they say there's a terrible thunderstorm at the bottom of the mountain, and it makes the trails impassable to hikers and vehicles. Don't worry- we just need to keep together till dawn!"

"Guess you're right," Emily looked forlornly outside, and whispered, "Elena, Yu-Ting… I-I'm so sorry…" She joined Yuwen in pushing the dining table toward the door to add to the barricade.

What had begun as a joyful, adventurous night out had turned into a night of terror and uncertainty. So the five girls huddled quietly and nervously upstairs in their sleeping bags, peering out the window every few minutes, expecting to see Yu-Ting and Elena to show up at the back door at any moment.

But there was no trace of either girl- or the strange man, or the bursts of flame or the mysterious shrieks.

Yuwen served the other girls the soup she'd managed to finish, though no one had much appetite, and Wanzhen chewed on a bag of jerky- more to calm her nerves than out of hunger.

Sometime past 5:00 A.M. in the morning, Yuwen nodded off in sheer exhaustion.

The next thing she knew, Youru was shaking her, trying to wake her. The police and rangers were here- they'd been delayed by a fierce thunderstorm at the mountain's base which had made the treacherous trail impassable and helicopter navigation hazardous- and were questioning everybody. Yuwen told them everything she knew- they mysterious man, the terrifying shrieks, Elena's scream, the bursts of flame, Yu-Ting running back outside.

The police and rescue teams combed the nearby mountainside, and even the countryside surrounding the mountain. Helicopters scoured the woods, but the two missing girls were nowhere to be found. The only clue they discovered was Yu-Ting's cell phone on an old wood bridge not far from the generator, depleted of battery and gone dormant. It looked like it'd been dropped, as if in a panic or when she was running. Days dragged into weeks, which stretched into months, and eventually the rescue teams simply gave up.

As for Yu-Ting and Elena… they were never coming back...


	2. Chapter 2: One Year Later

Episode I: Night on the Mountain

-Chapter II: One Year Later...

Royal Crown Restaurant, Nantou City, Nantou County, Taiwan, January 29, 2019

Yuanxin Chen sat quietly in the restaurant, finishing up her meal. She was supposed to meet with her friend, Sheila Huang, here, eat dinner, and ride their classmate Tim Tsai's car up to Heilin Mountain for their weekend retreat. But the engine of Tim's car had gotten busted from overheating or something, so Sheila and Tim were riding Max Guo's car instead, along with his friends Kun-Min Lee and Titus Ding. That left Yuanxin to take the bus alone up to the mountain, since she'd been too out-of-the way for Max to pick up.

A TV in the restaurant was airing the local cable news, and it's words caught Yuanxin's attention. "Today is the one-year anniversary of the dreadful tragedy that took place on Heilin Mountain." The TV flashed to happy photos of Elena Zhang and Yu-Ting Qiu. "One year ago, tonight, two friends, Elena Zhang and Yu-Ting Qiu, went missing while camping on Heilin Mountain. The two girls left their friends at the visitor lodge to go activate an electric generator- and neither were ever seen again."

A clip of Nantou County Police Department Spokesman Chu Han-li's statements about the police investigation came up. "We have not ruled out the possibility of foul play, and there is one individual we're considering as a person of interest, but his identity is currently unknown. Calling himself "The Stranger", he has an interesting history with Heilin Mountain. He had previously written threatening emails warning the county government against opening the mountain to tourism, and claimed the land was sacred to his forefathers." The news jumped to another clip in Officer Chu's statements. "Our officers did search the old, Japanese-era sanitorium and the old military base on the mountain in case he was hiding there, but the girls themselves probably didn't make it that far. Something about that mountain seems to breed tragic events- more than we know."

The news anchor came back on camera. "The mountain was closed for many months due to the police investigation, but has recently been reopened at the behest of the national government. We offer our condolences to all their family and friends tonight, on this, the anniversary of the mysterious disappearance of Yu-Ting Qiu and Elena Zhang."

Yuanxin looked down, wiped a tear from the corner of her eye, and checked her cell phone again and sighed- it looked like the bus was nearly here, so she got up to go to the bus station outside.

"Hey, Yuanxin!"

Yuanxin looked up in confusion.

"That is your name, right?" A man just entering the restaurant greeted.

It dawned on Yuanxin it was one of her teachers at her university. "Y- Yes... Professor Xu, what are you doing here?"

"Just stopping for dinner before I head for the mountains to camp out. What about you?"

"I was going to the mountains to campout too!" Yuanxin perked up in surprise.

"Which one?" Professor Xu's eyes widened in surprise.

"Mount Heilin," Yuanxin said without a thought.

"Well, I'm going to, uh, one of the others, um, Zhiwan Mountain," Professor Xu swallowed. "Listen, I remember what happened last year with, uh, your classmates and I know it must be hard- "

"Please- no- " Yuanxin swallowed back anxiety and held up a hand. "Just- don't- talk about it, ok? I'm trying to get over it."

"Sure- I- ok- " He nodded. "Just be careful out- "

"Hey, look who's here!" A female voice interrupted.

Yuanxin and Professor Xu turned to see another teacher- Professor Huang Xiangshuo, coming from her table in the restaurant. "What a coincidence to see you both! Professor Xu, Yuanxin Chen."

"Good to see you too," Professor Xu straightened. "Yuanxin and I just ran into each other- we're both going camping in the mountains."

"Me too," Professor Huang laughed. "I just love camping in the mountains- isn't it great? In winter too. Reminds me of the time I visited the US."

"That's… uh, great to know, but my bus is coming," Yuanxin pointed out the window.

"Oh, sorry- didn't mean to hold you up," Professor Xu waved. "Have a good trip! And be safe!"

"Be careful out there!" Professor Huang added.

Yuanxin raced outside and boarded the bus which had just arrived, and sat near the back- the entire bus was empty except for her and the driver.

Yuanxin took out her cell phone and opened the video of Youru's invitation to rewatch, which invited everyone to the mountain campout.

In the video, Youru adjusted the camera and started off solemnly: "To dear friends and classmates. I know you're all upset after what happened last year to Yu-Ting Qiu and Elena Zhang, and it'll be tough to go onto the mountain where they disappeared last year. In fact, I'm the only one of the original expedition willing to go back," Youru paused to choke back a sob. "But security has improved tremendously on the mountain, and I think it would be nice- they would've liked that we came to where they disappeared to pay our respects and remember them- but also to move one, and enjoy our lives, and not live in fear. They would've been proud of us." She stopped to wipe away a tear and turned off the camera.

As she closed the video file, Yuanxin noticed she'd received a LINE message and opened it.

hey, yuanxin, it's sheila

sorry for leaving u to dry

i'm waiting 4 u at the ranger station/cable car

tim, max, kun-min, titus have gone up

see u there!

Yuanxin sighed, trying to put aside her anxiety, and leaned back. She started to play with her cell phone, checking which stop they'd gotten to every few minutes. Before she knew it, the bus pulled up to Heilin Mountain Station and she got off.

After the bus drove off, Yuanxin found herself all alone in the dark woods, a lone park lamp hanging over the bus station. She thought she could hear the crackling of branches and metal clanking behind her.

She wheeled around. "Hello? Hello, is anyone there?"

Only silence greeted her.

"Huh," She scratched her head in confusion, and turned back around to walk toward the gate. _Maybe it was just her imagination._

If she'd waited a minute, she would've seen a masked man in a heavy overcoat step out of the woods, cloaked in shadow, slowly swinging a blood-stained machete…

Yuanxin walked through the open gate and down the path to the ranger station at the bottom of the mountain.

When she reached the seemingly-empty ranger station, she called out, "Sheila? You here?"

When there was no response, she tried the door of the ranger station. "Urgh, damn it! Locked!"

There was a sign stuck on the inside of the door's window and she bent over to peer at it.

Out on Patrol

Call the hotline below if you need assistance

Yuanxin groaned and walked around the side of the station, and spotted something on a nearby bench- it was Sheila's backpack. "Your bag's here, where are you? You're not in the bag, are you?"

"Hey, Yuanxin, you made it!" A voice called behind her and Yuanxin turned to see Sheila trotting over from a nearby trail.

"Hey, good to see you too," Yuanxin breathed as Sheila heaved on her backpack.

"Well, come over here. I found something kinda creepy," Sheila gestured and led the way, bringing Yuanxin to a big signpost with a map of the Heilin Mountain Recreational Area.

Except someone had painted on the park map with blood-red paint the words, "TURN back NOW!"

"Wow, graffiti all the way up here," Yuanxin shook her head mildly.

"Well, I don't like it at all," Sheila grimaced. "I have a really bad feeling about it."

"Yeah, we're still trying to catch who did that," A voice came behind them, and a man in a ranger's uniform walked to their side. "We went back to examine the camera tapes, but our cameras were strangely broken. Maybe just some delinquent messing around."

"Ranger Tsai!" Sheila greeted. "My friend Yuanxin and I would like to get on our way to the lodge. Could you unlock the cable car door for us?"

"Of course! This way, ladies!"

Sheila turned to Yuanxin, "I saw Yi-Hsin Lai, Jun-yuan Hsiao, and Yuxun Lin come by too- they went on to the lodge, but I stayed to wait for you."

"Speaking of which, why is the ranger station locked?" Yuanxin inquired curiously.

"Yeah, Ranger Tsai wanted us to keep it locked, keep people out."

"What? Why?"

"I don't know," Ranger Tsai chimed in as he opened the door. "Our supervisor ordered it. Said he found some druggies sleeping in the station one time."

"Creepy," Yuanxin shivered.

"Don't worry," Ranger Tsai assuaged. "We have men on station both at the new station on the top of the mountain and at the bottom, 24 hours a day. If you see anything out of the ordinary, feel free to contact us right away."

"Thanks," Sheila nodded. To Yuanxin, she commented, "The new cable car sure makes it easier. I was talking to Youru earlier- last year it took them almost a whole day to hike up mountain."

"Well, looks like our ride's coming," Yuanxin observed, as Ranger Tsai activated the cable car, and it began to descend down the mountain.

"Argh, and I thought the car was closer," Sheila groaned.

"Guess we gotta wait," Yuanxin walked over to a display case showing a historical pamphlet for the old Japanese-era sanitorium on the mountain. "What a crazy place to have a sanitorium."

Sheila, on the other hand, went over to a pair of Missing Persons poster.

Missing

Have you seen this person?

Elena Zhang

Elena Zhang was last seen in the up-mountain electrical generator building of the Heilin Mountain Recreational Area Camping Lodge, Xinyi Township, Nantou County between 7:00 P.M. and 8:00 P.M. on January 29, 2018. She may have been in some distress.

Missing

Have you seen this person?

Yu-Ting Qiu

Yu-Ting Qiu was last seen in the Heilin Mountain Recreational Area Camping Lodge, Xinyi Township, Nantou County between 7:00 P.M. and 8:00 P.M. on January 29, 2018. She may have been in some distress.

"Sorry, Elena, sorry Yu-Ting- you're still missing," Sheila whispered sadly, her eyes tearing up slightly.

The cable car clanked loudly onto the platform and the two girls hurriedly boarded it.

"Here we go!" Yuanxin managed a smile.

"Adventure begins!" Sheila responded, trying to set the mood.

"Hope this was the right thing to do," Yuanxin confided her doubt as the cable car began its ascent.

"What?" Sheila cocked her head.

"You know, coming onto the same mountain where Elena and Yuting disappeared?"

"We can't change the past- we just have to move forward," Sheila gestured with one arm emphatically. "Security has been tighter than ever since the disappearances. We're safe here." Sheila insisted.

"Good, good," Yuanxin nodded. "I hope everyone feels the same way."

"A bunch of our classmates are all here, aren't we?" Sheila pointed out.

"Thanks, sis! Good talk!" Yuanxin patted Sheila on the shoulder.

"You know what? Let's just… let's just stop talking about what happened last year and enjoy the trip!"

"I guess you're right…"

The cable car docked onto the mountaintop station.

"Argh! I can't get this open!" Sheila examined, pulling on the door handle.

"Let me try!" Yuanxin pried the door handle as well, to no avail, but she spotted a young man in a clerk uniform walk past, and banged on the window. "Hey! Over here!"

"AAH! What the hell!" He jumped in surprise, and saw them. "You scared me!"

"We're stuck in this stupid thing!" Yuanxin called.

"Can you let us out please?" Sheila asked. "Pretty please?"

The clerk walked over and opened the cable car door. "Sorry about that! These facilities haven't been used in awhile- and the lousy thing gets stuck when it's cold. I've been trying to get the county government to increase funding and get everything working right."

"Thanks, no prob- " Yuanxin began, but a distant explosive sound cut her off, followed by the sound of cascading rocks, faintly shaking the ground beneath their feet.

"Uh… I think I'll have someone check that out," The man looked nervous. "Probably just a tree falling or part of the old sanitorium wall collapsing. Or a rockslide. Or a tremor."

A second man ran out in ranger uniform. "What was that?"

"Ranger Soong! I was just hoping you could check it out for me."

The man named Ranger Soong spotted Yuanxin and Sheila and wrinkled his brow in clear disgust. "More idiots… worm fodder…" He muttered under his breath.

"What did you say?!" Yuanxin huffed her chest up, clearly miffed.

"You are just going to get in the way, just like those girls last- "

"Ranger Soong!" The Clerk declared sharply, glaring at the Ranger. "Go check out the strange sound!"

The Ranger glared, then stormed off angrily.

"Sorry about that," The Clerk smiled, though some strain still showed through his kind features. "He's got a bit of an anger issue. I think you should get up to the lodge- it's getting cold out."

"Alright, let's go," Sheila nudged Yuanxin.

At the lodge…

BOOM!

"What the- " Youru leaped up from her bench in surprise at the sound of an explosion. She clambered over to where a pair of binoculars overlooked the mountain slopes. Scanning the mountain trail down to the ranger station and back up, but couldn't find anything out of the ordinary. She did see, however, three people coming up the trail. "Ohh-" She zoomed in on them and identified them as Yi-Hsin Lai, Jun-yuan Hsiao, and Yuxun Lin.

"AAAH!" A voice yelled right in front of her and a garbled face appeared inches from the binoculars.

"AAAH!" Youru fell over backward.

"Hahaha!" Peiyun Chen came around the binoculars, cackling maliciously.

"Oh God! God!" Youru turned red with embarrassment and anger.

"Whoa! Sorry there… I didn't mean to scare you- " Peiyun grabbed Youru's hand and helped her up.

"Jeez Louise, Peiyun!" Youru protested.

"Well, I did want to scare you, kind of, but not like…" Peiyun chuckled at Youru's flustered appearance.

"Oh my gosh, oh my gosh!" Youru smacked Peiyun lightly on the shoulder.

"Wow, I'm really sorry, Youru- "

"It's okay... it's fine…" Youru composed herself. "Let's just go inside, ok? Yating Yang is preparing hot chocolate."

Ranger Station at bottom of the mountain…

Badly wounded, Ranger Tsai crawled desperately toward the fallen gun, hoping to be able to grab it and bring it to bear on his attacker. But a sharp object plunged plunged into his neck, sending pain tearing through him, and he fell limp on the floor. As he felt warm blood run down his neck and his vision began to blur, he saw a shadowy figure stride into the ranger station before everything turned black...

Path to the Lodge…

Yi-Hsin looked back at the up-mountain ranger station they'd just left behind them. "I sense… something's not right here. Someone's stalking us."

"You mean Yuanxin and Sheila?" Yunxun joked, pointing to the two just setting off on the trail from the ranger station. "Yeah, they're following us."

"No, I meant- "

"Trust me, it's very safe up here," Jun-yuan asserted. "There's personnel guarding the mountain 24-7 after what happened last year. We're fine."

"OK… I just feel uneasy," Yi-Hsin sighed. "After last year…" Yi-Hsin sighed.

If Yi-Hsin had kept watching , she would've seen yet another cable car dock at the station… although every member of their camping team had already arrived.


	3. Chapter 3: Darkness

Episode I: Night on the Mountain

-Chapter III: Darkness

Peace Lodge, Heilin Mountain, Xinyi Township, Nantou County, Taiwan, January 29, 2019…

Outside the lodge, Tim and Max walked around the clearing just outside the front door, waiting for the others to come.

"Dang it, why aren't there cell towers on this mountain?" Tim grumbled, rubbing his hands together in the cold. "I'm suffering withdrawals already. And I can't contact my girlfriend. Not to mention, how much of a safety hazard that is. What if there's an emergency?"

"I think the county government doesn't have that money. And it's too remote to be worth it for mobile companies. If you happen to have a few million yuan lying around, you could consider donating it…" Max remarked.

Tim gave Max a dour look.

"Hey, how are you all?" A voice interrupted as Yuxun led Jun-yuan and Yi-Hsin up to the lodge.

Max turned to Yuxun. "We're more or less okay. It's good to see you guys. We were just enjoying the lovely night scenery. And waiting to see if everyone arrived safely."

"Why are you all standing around?" Yi-Hsin shrugged. "Let's go inside."

"After you," Tim gestured.

As the group ascended the staircase, they failed to hear the heavy breathing as someone- or something- watched them from the shadows of the nearby forest...

"Oh my gosh, it's so good to be inside," Yi-Hsin gasped as she stumbled through the door and changed her shoes. "Even if it's still kind of freezing in here."

"I'll ask Youru how to turn up the heater," Max remarked.

"This place looks awfully dusty," Jun-yuan frowned.

"Nobody's been up here in a while, I think," Max replied.

"Well, just the police coming in and out," Youru came out of the kitchen with a mug of hot chocolate in her hand and a mournful look on her face.

"Not a lot of action, I'd imagine," Tim said sadly. "We should go back outside to see if Yuanxin and Sheila get up here okay…"

"You guys should go get some hot chocolate in the kitchen," Youru told Yuxun, Jun-yuan, and Yi-Hsin. "Melody made it. Also, I know it's cold here, but the heater takes some time to warm up."

"Perfect!" Yuxun headed into the kitchen.

Yi-Hsin walked over to Youru. "Hey, you doing alright? I mean, I know it must be really tough going up here after your friends…"

"Ok, please don't mention it," Youru looked away miserably. "I'm trying to get over it. Don't you think the memories are flooding back after I came here?"

"OK… ok, got it," Yi-Hsin nodded. "Just hang in there."

"Hi everyone!" Yuanxin exclaimed, as she and Sheila came in through the door.

"Hey!" Tim welcomed. "Melody is making hot chocolate in the kitchen. If you want any, get there now!"

"I do need something warm to drink!" Yuanxin clamored excitedly. "I'll get a cup for Sheila too!"

"Everyone's here," Max dismissed. "I'm going to my room to play League of Legends on my laptop. Anyone want to join me?"

"Why not?" Tim nodded, walking over.

"Me three," Jun-yuan added, and the three guys headed into one of the rooms.

"Oh crap… where's my bag?" Sheila suddenly sounded consternated.

"Huh?" Kun-Lin Lee looked at her, confused.

"My bag!" Sheila exclaimed. "My light blue one. I need my bag!"

"Are you sure you brought it?" Titus questioned.

"Yes! I- I must have left it down by the ranger station."

"Ugh! Someone has to escort you down…" Kun-Lin groaned.

"That means us," Titus gestured to Kun-Lin. "We'll go with her."

"No way!" Kun-Lin turned away. "Let Yuanxin go."

"Yuanxin is tired enough already," Youru added, before pointing out, "You've already rested."

"Fine… fine…" Kun-Lin conceded.

The three headed out the lodge as Yuanxin came back from the kitchen. "Where is Sheila- where are they going?"

"Sheila forgot her bag, it seems," Youru shook her head. "Kun-Lin and Titus are escorting her back to get it."

"Wow… that's unfortunate. Her hot chocolate will get cold." Yuanxin set down the mug of cocoa meant for Sheila, before downing her own. "I'm going to go take a shower now, and then I'll go to sleep. Long day tomorrow." She headed upstairs.

Youru sighed, sat down on a couch, and turned on the TV, and soon, Peiyun and Yi-Hsin joined her.

"Here you are, madam," Kun-Lin opened the gate and feigned bowing.

"Oh, quit it," Sheila shoved him lightly. "Titus, so are you coming or not?"

"Course!" Titus jogged over from the lodge door. "It's not safe to go out there in small groups- after what happened last year."

"True," Sheila nodded. "But luckily, a new ranger station was set up."

"And we're here to protect you," Kun-Lin crossed his arms in an exaggerated imitation of a bodyguard.

"Ha, I can take care of myself," Sheila chuckled haughtily.

"I don't think that's a good idea," Titus was nervous. "I wouldn't want to be out here alone myself."

"Well, Yuanxin did tell me she thought she heard someone following her when she walked up from the bus station to the ranger station at the bottom of the mountain..." Sheila gestured creepily.

"If the freaking murderous creep is up here," Kun-Lin looked around. "I'll kick his ass!"

"Well, thanks for helping me find my bag, though," Sheila interjected sheepishly this time.

"What's so important in your bag anyway?" Kun-Lin laughed. "That we're here risking our lives for?"

"My clothes are supplies maybe?" Sheila raised an eyebrow. "I kinda like having clean clothes and food to eat while we're here." Abruptly, she stopped and jogged ahead to the edge of the trail, where she peered at something. "Hey guys, come this way!"

"You trying to get us somewhere private?" Kun-Lin joked as he and Titus jogged over.

"Shut it!" Sheila punched him in the arm, and pointed to a large, half-buried statue of what looked like a clouded leopard. "What is that?"

"Could be from the indigenous tribes," Titus shrugged. "I heard the Atayal people once lived here."

"Nah, looks too recent," Sheila wiped some dust off it. "Weird."

Suddenly, an ear-piercing, inhuman shriek rang through the air.

"What was that?" Sheila asked nervously, unconsciously grabbing Titus' arm.

"Do not like!" Sheila muttered.

"Um… I'm not sure. Probably just an animal," Titus looked unconvinced himself.

"Let- let's just keep going," Kun-Lin muttered, unnerved as well.

The three friends stuck closer together- for the quiet, peaceful woods… suddenly didn't seem so inviting anymore.

They proceeded a short while further before Sheila spotted something out of place.

"Hey… what the hell?!"

A decapitated pig head was impaled and propped up on a wooden pole wrapped in barbed wire by the path, with a single paper nailed to it.

"Somebody… someone…" Kun-Lin babbled stupidly, at a loss for words.

"Uh… that was not here before," Titus approached hesitantly.

"Nope, it wasn't," Sheila pointed to the paper. "Is that a note?"

Titus tore off the paper- and dropped it in horror.

Written on it, in fresh blood, were the words, "Welcome Back".

"Whoa." Kun-Lin looked around in alarm.

"Uhhh… I don't like this," Sheila took a step back.

Without warning, the lights lining the path flashed off, plunging the trio into darkness.

"God!" Sheila exclaimed.

"What the hell is going on?" Titus jumped slightly. "Who the hell did this?"

"You know, I'm kinda not giving a shit about my bag anymore," Sheila bit her lip. "Kinda just wanna split."

"The ranger station is just ahead!" Kun-Lin pointed through the woods as his eyes adjusted to the dark. "Let's go for it!"

"Good idea- we'll talk to the rangers about this," Titus agreed, jogging ahead.

"We're saved!" Sheila joked, joining the boys.

Kun-Lin reached the porch of the ranger station… and stopped dead.

"What is it?" Sheila asked anxiously.

Youru had just gotten to a particularly funny part of the favorite game show when, abruptly, the power cut off. The living room lights and TV all blanked out.

"Shit!"

"What happened?" Melody came out of the kitchen, Yuxun in tow. "Why did all the lights go out?"

"Must be the damn fuse," Youru shook her head.

"How do we fix it, then?" Peiyun asked.

"Someone has to go to the generator, a long distance away," Youru explained. "I'd like a word with the rangers about the fuse when we get the chance."

"I think we need someone to go to the generator first," Yi-Hsin asserted. "If we wait, it'll only get darker and more dangerous, and who knows when we can contact the rangers. I offer to go."

"True," Melody replied. "I'll go with her. But it'll be nice if we had a guy along. Yuxun, you should come."

"Me?" He groaned. "Why me?"

"You don't want to help us?" Melody tried to feign a sad expression.

"And because Youru and Peiyun aren't guys," Yi-Hsin added matter-of-factly.

"Fine, fine…" Yuxun groaned.

"Come on, the faster we go, the faster we can get back and relax," Yi-Hsin got up from the sofa.

"It's right up the trail," Youru pointed out the back window.

"So… what should we do next?" Peiyun asked Youru as they watched the trio depart out the back door.

"What is it?" Sheila asked anxiously, before Kun-Lin stepped aside to let her see. There was a bloodstained axe half-embedded in the door of the ranger station, which was covered with violent axe marks.

"I- Is- there anyone i-inside?" Sheila, stammered, feeling positively terrified at this point.

"I don't know- it's silent and quiet inside…" Kun-Lin tried the doorbell, and then the door. "No answer. And it's locked."

"Fuck it. Give me the axe," Titus grabbed the tool aggressively and wrenched it out of the door. "I'm breaking the door down. Whoever it is probably still is out here."

"Whoa, wait a second. We start smashing shit down, he's gonna hear us. And what if he's inside?"

"Then I'll chop him up," Titus replied grimly.

"Agreed," Kun-Lin nodded. "But I get the axe. He grabbed it from Titus, and swung it at the door.

Three violent chops later, the already-battered door burst open- revealing a catastrophic mess. Furniture was strewn everywhere, cabinet files had been ransacked, glass broken, and tools scattered about.

"God damn…" Titus muttered. "What happened?"

"This is crazy," Sheila looked around in disbelief. "We were just here. This must have just happened. Oh wait- my bag! What is it doing in here?" Sheila picked up her bag from the rubble of a broken bookshelf. "I swore I left it outside…"

"What the fuck is going on?" Kun-Lin looked ready to take someone's head off. "Everything's so busted up. It was barely in working condition before."

"The cable car!" Titus pointed. It had moved out on its own, and was now suspended in mid-air, far out of reach. "I think whoever did this meant to strand us here! We'll never escape even if we wanted to!"

"Well, we can still hike off the mountain," Sheila pointed to a road leading across the bridge over a valley that led to a old trail down the mountain. "On the trail, Youru and the others hiked up last year- "

BOOM! The central span of the stone bridge suddenly exploded right before their eyes, sending huge pieces of rock tumbling into the valley, and leaving them staring at a sheer cliff.

"Uh… that's definitely not good," Kun-Lin muttered.

"Hey, look here!" Titus saw a series of red writing on the wall. "It says 'Die', 'Die', 'Die'... written in blood and it leads to the office…"

"Very friendly," Kun-Lin muttered sarcastically as he held the axe at the ready. "I'll take the lead." The three took a deep breath and stormed into the office together.

At first, it appeared empty- then they saw it. For three seconds, they were too shocked to move. Under a shattered window, sitting on a chair in the office was the bloody head of the clerk who'd worked there, his face twisted in horror, eyes wide open

"AUGHHH!" Sheila was the first to react, turning and bolting out of the ranger office, then Titus and Kun-Lin ran out after her.

"This is it!" Titus cried out, panting. "We're all going to be killed! The murderer who killed Elena and Yu-Ting must still be on the mountain! Now he'll be after us! We need to get back to the lodge and fortify the heck out of the place!"

At this moment, a figure stepped out of the dark forest, a freaky metal canister clanking on his back. He wore a thick, tattered overcoat, goggles, and a mask over his face. "Hey! What are you doing here?!"

"That's him!" Kun-Lin shouted, charging forward with his axe held high. "I'll fucking kill you! For Elena and Yu-Ting!"

But the stranger stepped aside deftly, grabbed the handle of Kun-Lin's axe, and slammed Kun-Lin in the face with his elbow.

Kun-Lin stumbled, but clung to the axe. "NO! Fuck you!" He tried to kick the stranger's shin, but the man preempted him, kicking him instead.

"AHH!" Kun-Lin stumbled backward in pain, letting go of the axe in surprise.

"Watch out!" Sheila shouted to Kun-Lin, throwing a rock at the stranger to distract him.

When the man turned, Kun-Lin took the chance to recompose himself and charged, kicking away the axe to the ground and pushing the man toward the edge of the cliff. Just meters from the edge though, the stranger dug in his heels, forcing Kun-Lin into a stalemate.

"Sheila, Titus, get out of here! RUN!" Kun-Lin shouted to Sheila and Titus as he grappled with the masked stranger. "I'll hold him!"

"Hey, over here!" Sheila grabbed another rock and hurled it at the stranger's face.

A terrifying shriek coming from the distance suddenly penetrated the darkness, and the Stranger suddenly lost his balance, with Kun-Lin shoving him closer to the precarious slope. The man swung wildly, striking Kun-Lin in the face with a fist.

Kun-Lin slipped a the grass wet with dew and past the stranger. The man turned toward the fallen Kun-Lin, but he shouted, "No, you don't!" He grabbed the stranger's strange metal backpack, but the man yanked back. It tore out of Kun-Lin's grasp, and the recoil knocked him backward, off the edge of the cliff.

"AUGHHH!" Kun-Lin's piercing shriek penetrated the air as the tumbled away- then cut off abruptly.

"Kun-Lin!" Sheila screamed, rushing over to the edge of the cliff to see. Kun-Lin's head had smashed open on a rocky outcrop a good fifty meters below, spilling blood and brains all over the rocks. "NO! God, no!"

"C- come on, w-we have to run!" Titus stammered, pointing to the stranger, who was now looking down at Kun-Lin's body as well. "He's coming!"

The two students turned and fled back up the trail even as the stranger turned around and picked up the axe...


	4. Chapter 4: Isolation

Episode I: Night on the Mountain

-Chapter IV: Isolation

Hu Juxiang's Apartment, South District, Taichung City, Taiwan, January 29, 2019…

Hu Juxiang was thankful for his time off as he ate a late-night snack and watched videos of his favorite TV show on his laptop. Abruptly, a red light on his laptop began to flash a warning, and a small siren sounded, informing him of a vital satellite transmission.

"What, a message from the Crusader? At this time?" He groaned and typed in the access code. A fingerprint and iris confirmation later, the laptop received the message:

To Warrior:

Soong and the Clerk are dead

Hostile presence confirmed

Civilians in danger. Your friends?

Someone- or something- destroyed the communication lines, the bridge, and disabled the cable car

You're all that's left of Crusaders to call on now

I sent word to the Freedmen and Purists too, but no idea if they are able or willing to come

-Crusader

Peace Lodge Living Room, Heilin Mountain, Xinyi Township, Nantou County, Taiwan, January 29, 2019…

Peiyun rummaged around in her bag to uncover several cups of dried ramen. "Jun-yuan, are you hungry?"

"Yeah, it's been a bit since dinner," Jun-yuan commented. "Good time for a midnight snack."

"OK," Peiyun took a portable cooker from her luggage and powered it up. "I have some ramen. By the way, want some wine?" She pulled a bottle out of her luggage.

"Sure thing!" Jun-yuan looked eager. "A nice drink before bedtime is always nice."

Peiyun poured a cup for Jun-yuan, and went to take care of the fire. "I wonder what Youru, Max, and Tim are up to?"

"League of Legends or whatever that game is called," Jun-yuan groaned.

As the two chatted, neither noticed the silent figure wearing a demonic clown mask peering down at them from the top of the stairs...

Path to Peace Lodge Generator…

As Yuxun, Melody, and Yi-Hsin walked down the trail leading away from the lodge, none noticed that a masked figure was slowly watching them from behind atop an upstairs window of the lodge.

"It's like a little adventure!" Melody piped up, pulling out her cell phone and started playing some music.

"Isn't there like, no service up here?" Yuxun questioned, as he and Yi-Hsin clambered down a ledge and a flight of stairs after Melody.

"Luckily, I have a lot of songs stored here then," Melody grinned.

"Whoa, police tape..." Yi-Hsin's attention was diverted by the yellow strips dangling from a nearby tree.

"From Elena and Yu-Ting…" Yuxun breathed.

"You'd think they'd clean it up…" Melody muttered, her spirits deflating.

"Well, they never closed the investigation." Yuxun shook his head sadly.

"Okay, I'm getting the creeps now." Melody shivered.

The three came to a fork in the road, where a huge steel sign labeled "Mount Heilin Recreational Area, Nantou County Government Bureau of Tourism" demarced the directions, and they took the left path toward the generator.

Abruptly, although very faint, what sounded like a low-pitch shriek reached their ears, causing Yuxun to lurch back, instinctive fear flashing through him momentarily.

"Ummm… Did you hear that?" Melody asked, noticing the sound over her music.

"I heard… something. Yeah," Yuxun dismissed his unease, and the three kept onward.

"Hey there's something odd over there!" Yi-Hsin indicated, pointing ahead at a slight bend in the path.

What looked like a shrine was mounted on a set of crates set between two were some burnt-out candles, a Native American dreamcatcher, a deer skull nailed to one of the trees, feathers hanging on string suspended between the trees, and several esoteric pictograms drawn on wooden boards. And it looked new.

"Holy bat cave," Yuxun muttered.

"It's got to be aboriginal, right?" Melody conjectured.

"It looks recent," Yi-Hsin pointed out. "But I don't think it was the Rangers getting their arts n' crafts on, no."

"It looks a shrine or something." Yuxun pointed out the obvious.

"A shrine to what?" Yi-Hsin lifted and eyebrow.

Leaving that question unanswered, the three decided to move on beyond the mysterious display, and saw a strange concrete outcrop ahead.

"Oooh! Binoculars!" Melody squealed, running over to a stationary binocular stand.

"Ah, I recall Youru mentioned the rangers were building a new tourist observation platform here." Yi-Hsin nodded.

Melody swung the binoculars every which way. "Gonna look at the trees… gonna look at the clouds… gonna look for the generat- " She froze still, then stepped back from the binoculars. "Uh. Whoa."

"Y'alright?" Yuxun asked offhandedly.

"I just saw someone at the generator." Melody sounded shocked and a little scared.

"Okayyy? Let me see." Yi-Hsin grabbed the binocular stand as Melody stepped back as if a little dazed. She scanned the generator and the surrounding area… but there seemed to be nothing but tons and tons of trees.

She was about to give up, when suddenly, a grotesque face, possibly a mask, leaped out, obscuring the view momentarily with its big eyes and thin, wide grin.

"AAAAHHH! Oh, god!" Yi-Hsin leaped back, and rushed to the railing of the outcropping, scanning the tree-covered slope below. "It was right there! I just saw it!"

"Saw what?" Yuxun scoffed, chuckling. He peered into the binoculars and scanned for a long time, looking forward, up, left, right, and down. After perhaps a minute, he stepped back, and shrugged, partly-confused and partly-amused. "Sampling the old eggnog again, girls? There's nobody up here but us."

"Uh… maybe…" Yi-Hsin conceded unsurely. "But I could have sworn…"

Melody just stayed silent. She looked back through the binoculars again, but then shook her head slowly. "Nothing but goddamn trees…"

"Okay, we've wasted enough time already," Yuxun chastised the girls, a bit unnerved by the girls' reactions. Part of him wondered if they were pulling a prank on him; another part stirred with instinctive fear that they'd actually seen something. "Even… if there was a guy, it would've been a Ranger or something."

Yi-Hsin had scouted ahead, and shouted back, "There's a huge fallen tree blocking the path."

"Crap!" Yuxun ran over, Melody in tow. "Goddamnit! Couldn't the Rangers at least have cleared up this path?

"Really?" Melody looked amused.

"What?" Yuxun looked annoyed.

"I didn't figure you guys for the glass half-empty type."

"You got a better idea?"

Melody raced forward and scaled the log limberly.

Yi-Hsin sighed and followed reluctantly, as did Yuxun, where they found Melody staring at an old, abandoned tractor parked on the path. "Looks like the Rangers were here- they must have abandoned this…"

"I don't know… it looks ancient." Yi-Hsin pointed out. "I don't think it has functioned in years. Someone must have towed it onto the path. But why?"

Melody pulled on the handle of the tractor door, but it was locked shut. However, in a millisecond, a terrifying skeletal face abruptly appeared in the window.

"AHHH!" Melody screamed, leaping back, and tripping backward.

"Whoa! Christ!" A bit further back, Yi-Hsin suffered a sudden shock as well, and breathed heavily to regain her composure. "That scared the blue out of my jeans."

Yuxun had been looking another direction at the tractor's engine, but was still slightly startled and turned at Melody's scream and saw the skeletal mask in the window. "What the hell is that doing in there anyway?"

A scream interrupted them and punctuated the night air, more closer this time.

"The hell was that?" Yuxun froze.

"Was it… someone screaming?" Yi-Hsin proposed.

"Naw, no, probably just a… squirrel… or something," Yuxun shrugged unconvincingly.

"Brrr… Creep-town." Melody shivered.

"I… think we should keep on going…" Yi-Hsin mentioned hesitantly, and they continued trudging forward.

But whatever was out there wasn't going away…

A sudden snarling, slashing sound came from the woods to their right.

"Whoa!" Yi-Hsin exclaimed.

Melody round the corner and froze. "Eek!"

"What is it?" Yuxun rounded the corner and saw a deer twitching, apparently in its death throes. Blood flowed freely from several deep gashes the shape of claws sunk into its neck. "Damn…"

"It's horrible." Melody muttered.

"I don't think it's going to make it," Yi-Hsin stated.

Suddenly, a loud snarling, scrabbling sound erupted to their right, and a sudden, violent force yanked the dying deer into the woods with terrifying speed.

"AHHHHH!" Melody screamed, bolting for it.

"Whoa- " Yuxun fell back, panicking.

"RUN! RUN!" Yi-Hsin screamed to the others. She and Yuxun took off as fast as they could.

"Oh my god, what the hell was that?!" Melody screamed.

"I don't know…!" Yuxun exclaimed.

"It's a bear, gotta be a bear!" Yi-Hsin babbled as she ran.

"Let's make for the trees!" Yuxun suggested. "We'll lose it!"

"Stay on the path, we're almost there!" Yi-Hsin countered.

"Look! Look! There's a bridge! Over here! Over here! Yuxun!" Melody pointed to broken bridge spanning a ravine. Reaching it first, she leaped over the gap, and turned around, waving for Yuxun and Yi-Hsin to do the same.

Yi-Hsin made the jump, followed by Yuxun, and the three barrelled down the path all the way to the generator.

Melody tripped over the small steps into the generator building, and fell flat on her stomach.

"Come on, we gotta go!" Yi-Hsin yelled, running back to help her up, as Yuxun flung open the door.

"I am!" Melody shouted, clambering up, and the two girls ran inside after Yuxun.

Yuxun slammed the door shut and heaved, "I think we lost it."

"Holy crap, I feel like I just ran a marathon," Melody coughed amidst her gasping breaths.

"Was it a bear?" Yi-Hsin wheezed.

"Yeah, probably. Those things are crazy fast." Yuxun gasped.

"Well… I didn't see it," Yi-Hsin peered out the window reluctantly.

Melody wasn't listening, instead, scouring her pockets in a panic. "Oh, shit! Fuck!"

"What?" Yuxun looked concerned.

"Ahhh, oh crap!" Melody threw her arms up, clearly upset.

"What?" Yuxun repeated, walking over to her.

"Where is it?" She exclaimed, scanning the floor, and running over to the window to look outside.

"What? What's wrong?" Yi-Hsin asked.

"Gone! It is gone, ok?" Melody was on the border of being hysterical.

"Melody, slow down, what is gone?" Yuxun tried to sound consoling.

"My freaking phone!"

"You can't find it?" Yi-Hsin asked.

"Crap! No! I must have dropped it."

"Ah… shit…" Yi-Hsin muttered.

"I can't lose my phone, my parents will kill me…"

"You can always get a new one- " Yuxun proposed.

"That was a new one!" Melody exclaimed.

"Okay… okay… well, I'll help you look for it- but I don't think we wanna go back for a little bit," Yi-Hsin declared, with a hint of finality in her voice. "We can comb through the trail on the way back."

"Then let's get to work on the generator first," Yuxun remarked, turning his attention.

Meanwhile, several hundred meters outside, breathing heavily in the woods, a predator stalked them, watching their movement through the window of the generator building...

Back at the Peace Lodge…

Youru threw down her last card and pumped a fist into the air. "Ha! I win!"

"I swear, you must have peeked or something," Tim shook his head in mock disapproval. "No one beats me that quickly at cards!"

"I wonder how you guys can be amused by cards for so long," Max commented dryly, continuing to play League of Legends.

"And I wonder how your computer still has juice."

"I have a lithium power pack," Max held it up.

BANG! CLANG! CLANG! A cacophony of sounds erupted from the basement, and Youru stood up nervously. "You hear that too… right?"

"Yeah…" Max muttered.

"Definitely," Tim sounded unsettled.

"Maybe we should… you know, check it out?" Youru proposed nervously.

"Why?" Max shrugged, unable to totally conceal his unease.

"I dunno, what if it's like a pipe that's about to burst, or the furnace catching fire?"

"Unlikely…" Max dismissed.

"I'd rather not be caught in a fire," Youru pointed out.

"Yeah, well… okay," Max conceded.

Tim had already gotten up, moved cautiously toward the door, and opened it slowly.

"Let me grab my flashlight," Max reached into his backpack, before he and Youru followed Tim's lead and began to make their way into the living room.

"Oh wow..." Max muttered sardonically as they passed the fireplace. Jun-yuan was sprawled on the rug, apparently unconscious, and Peiyun was fast asleep on the couch. Two empty wine bottles and two empty bowls.

"Should we wake Jun-yuan and Peiyun?" Youru asked.

"Nah, let them sleep," Tim dismissed. "It could be nothing, and we'd been disturbing them. If there's really a fire or something, I think the ruckus we make will wake them."

"I think it was down in the basement…" Max mentioned cautiously.

"Then let's go," Youru said with bravado. She walked over to the open basement door and walked through it.

Max and Tim followed her down the steps and into the basement.

"Whoa- is that- " Youru strode rapidly to the right of the stairs, next to the furnance, where there was a board on the wall that was tacked full of little notes and papers.

There were pictures of Yu-Ting Qiu and Elena Zhang, newspaper clippings about their disappearance and the police investigation, posters about the missing friends. And below it all, dabbed in red paint were the words, "Never Forget".

"Creepy," Tim muttered, unsettled. "Who could've done this?"

"Weren't we here to investigate some banging, clanging sounds?" Max reminded offhandedly. "We haven't found out what was causing them. We can deal with this later."

"OK, gotcha," Youru nodded, and the three turned to walk through an open doorway, where they saw a small bedroom with a moldy, ancient-looking bed.

"Whoa, what is this place?" Youru looked around, asking no one in particular.

"Haven't you been through this lodge before?" Max questioned.

"Yeah, but this door's always been looked. Never seen it open like this. Does someone sleep here?"

"Could be just an extra, or decrepit bed put in storage or something," Tim proposed.

There was another door, and Youru went ahead through it, climbed down a flight of stairs, turned a corner and found themselves in another corridor that was lined with bookshelves.

As Max and Tim followed her down, Max noticed something propped up on the nearest bookshelf- it was a board posted there, with eighteen pictures of people on it.

"That's us!" Youru exclaimed, when Max shone his flashlight on each face- Yu-Ting Qiu, Elena Zhang, Yuwen Chen, Xie Wanzhen, Lily Lee, Emily Lio, Yuanxin Chen, Sheila Huang, Youru Lai, Tim Tsai, Max Guo, Kun-Lin Lee, Titus Ding, Peiyun Chen, Yi-Hsin Lai, Jun-yuan Hsiao, Yuxun Lai, and Melody Yang. Three of them- Yu-Ting Qiu, Elena Zhang, and Kun-Lin Lee were violently crossed out with red paint. At least they hoped the red liquid dabbed over the pictures were paint…

"What is this, like a fucking hit list? Christ!" Max exclaimed.

"Why is Kun-Lin crossed out?" Tim inquired. "Is he okay?"

"He should be- " Youru frowned. "He went with Sheila and Titus to get Sheila's bag…"

They turned and kept going.

Max opened another door, which creaked awfully, and shone his flashlight cautiously. An even longer hallway stretched ahead of him, with holes littering the walls, ceiling, and floor. The eerie glow of moonlight shone through the badly-splintered roof above them.

"Wh- What is that…" Tim stammered, pointing, his feet firmly rooted to the ground.

Max turned his flashlight to where Tim was pointing- there was a dark red splatter on the ground. "Not good… not good at all."

"Calm down... everything's okay, I think," Youru held up a hand to steady Tim, who was looking pale and liable to faint. "Someone… might have been slightly injured, that's all." Her words sounded unconvincing, even to herself.

"Ummm… what about that?" Tim pointed to a massive splatter of blood on the wall a few meters away. It was still fresh, and dribbling down the wall.

"Aww shit! No!" Youru noticed the devastating amount of blood, dread beginning to color her voice.

"This can't be happening," Time muttered, barely audible.

"AAAAHHHHH!" A disembodied, piercing screamed interrupted them.

"Whaaa- ?" Youru leapt back in fear.

BOOM! A picture frame flew off the wall and crashed onto the ground in front of them, seemingly all by itself.

"Oh, shit!" Tim exclaimed.

"What did that?" Youru cried out, heart pounding in terror.

"How does a picture just jump off the wall like that?" Max blurted out.

"Wait a minute," Tim spotted a piece of paper on the floor that the other two had overlooked. When he picked it up, he saw that it had Yu-Ting and Elena's pictures printed on them.

"What did you find?" Youru asked, turning around to look at him.

"I thinks it's... " He flipped it over. "Oh shit. Shit, shit, shit! Oh my god! You- you guys need to see this!"

"Tim, what is that?" Max demanded.

"It- it's a threat…"

Youru and Max huddled over to read the blood-red scrawlings…

I WILL TAKE THEM AND BLEED THEM LIKE PIGS and RIP THEIR SKINS, FLAYING THEM ALIVE! A FUCKING YEAR I WAITED! I WILL KILL THEM ALL!

"Fuck! This is serious!" Youru exclaimed. "We have to warn Peiyun and Jun-yuan that all this insane stuff is going on!"

There was a creaking sound behind them, seemingly from a door, and a thin gust of cold, drafty air swept by their feet.

"What was that?" Tim grabbed Max's arm nervously.

"It came from back there," Youru pointed to the door leading into the room with the old bed. She turned around, and that's when she saw a translucent white figure of a familiar girl standing in the doorway before walking away.

"Wait! Max! Tim! Someone! What the fuck is that?!" Youru exclaimed hysterically.

"Ahh!" Tim had turned too, and a half-scream, half-gasp choked in his throat, causing him to stumble backward in panic, before he composed himself. "Did- Did you just see that?"

"What?" Max looked puzzled. "Did I see what?"

"A see through shape! Like a ghost!"

"Oh boy," Max looked disbelieving.

"Didn't you see it?!" Tim exclaimed.

"...no…" Max muttered.

"Get faster reflexes, you dip!" Tim cried out, whacking him on the shoulder. "There's a freaking ghost after us!"

"Calm down everyone, you- "

"You're not paying attention!" Youru waved her arms wildly. "We saw the ghost and it looked like Yu-Ting! It looked like Yu-Ting!"

"Ok, so maybe you guys did see something…" Max conceded, still highly skeptical. "Let's… just go back, okay, and warn Peiyun and Jun-yuan. We need to get everyone back together."

The three friends walked back through into the room with the old bed, and that's when it happened.

"AAAHHHHH!" With an inhumane shriek, a ghostly-white monstrous face of Yu-Ting leaped out of nowhere. Her clothes were tattered rags, her skin was rotten, her eyes milky white and sightless, her mouth wide open and smeared with blood, and a bloody gash marked her forehead.

Youru screamed and fell over on her back.

"Goddammit!" Max cried out.

"Oh, fuck, fuck, fuck!" Tim screamed incoherently.

"RUN!" Youru bolted back down the hallway, Max and Tim sprinting behind them. They barrelled through the door into the furnace room, slamming the door behind them.

"Hold the door!" Tim pushed against the door and called out to Max, but Max just kneeled and heaved.

"There's nothing chasing us," Max asserted, as he composed himself.

"But you did see it, Max. For real." Youru pointed out.

"I saw… something. But- But where'd it go?"

"This is ridiculous," Tim ground his teeth angrily as he let go of the door.. "You know what you say. Now, I'm going to go up there and tell Peiyun and Jun-yuan. He ascended the steps up from the basement.

Youru and Max, stayed in the basement, watching the door nervously and catching their breath. A couple minutes later, they heard Tim coming down the steps again, and saying, "Hey, I can't find Peiyun or Jun-yuan… do you know where they might have gone?"

"What?!" Youru blurted out, and she began to walk toward the stairs, Max close behind. They failed to notice a masked figure climb out of hiding in the shadow of the furnace and sneak behind them. Abruptly, one hand grabbed Max and he only managed to cry out once before a gas mask was forced over his face and a nauseous, chloroform-smelling gas filled his mouth and nostrils.

"Max!" Youru yelled as she wheeled around the see her friend falling limp, gripped by the menacing masked figure.


End file.
